Lawmakers yesterday agreed to slash a NT$97.36 million (US$3.3 million) budget allocated to various benefits in response to criticism that the benefits were not backed by law.
As a result, each of the 113 lawmakers will see his or her budget drop by NT$860,000.
The decision was the result of a meeting Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) called with the caucus whips of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), People First Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said last week that it was wrong for lawmakers to claim nine subsidies amounting to a total of NT$190 million, or NT$1.72 million each, because the subsidies were not enshrined in law.
Following days of debate, lawmakers agreed to reduce the payments and write into the legal system a legal basis for a budget earmarked for the subsidies.
“All caucus whips were of the opinion that there was a legal basis for lawmakers’ salaries and other payments. It was just that the legal basis was not written into law,” Wang told a press conference after the three-hour meeting.
Lawmakers decided to end subsidies for legislative research, highway tolls, hosting events, meals, overtime meal allowances for drivers, birthday vouchers and cellphone purchases. They also eliminated housing allowances on the grounds that lawmakers from counties and cities farther than Hsinchu are eligible for accommodation in government dormitories.
They lowered subsidies for telecommunications fees, stationery and stamps, fuel expenses and overseas trips, while the subsidies for rented housing in constituencies, health examinations and legislative office affairs were left untouched.
Lawmakers also agreed to seek reimbursement for domestic flights, train and high-speed rail trips by submitting their used tickets. Previously, lawmakers were allowed to apply for tickets in advance, which created a loophole that saw tickets not being used by lawmakers.
“Consensus was reached on the need to reform unfair subsidies,” DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said after a two-hour caucus meeting.
Tsai’s proposal to reduce lawmakers’ subsidies came after DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) disclosed that the annual NT$20.2 billion budget for year-end bonuses for government retirees had no legal basis and sparked heated discussion among the public.
Legislators had to tackle the subsidy issue head-on, Ker said, but it was also important to follow up on other unfair measures, such as the 18 percent preferential interest rate for government retirees.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite